Tag!
by ChibiBoko
Summary: Chapter three is up! ^_^ For those of you wondering about Yuna and Kimahri...
1. Default Chapter

~^^~ : It's here! It's here! I've finally written the FFX idea that's been buzzing around my head. ^_^;; Well, okay. The start of the idea anyway.

Ahem, awhile ago I put up a little contest/challenge for an Auron and Tidus story, with the prize being the winner getting to be a character in my story! So congrats goes to Ryan Cuza! ^_^ He decided that he wanted to be the bad guy, so who was I to say no? He's not in this chapter yet (what evil-scheming villain shows himself right away, ne? ^_^), but you're definitely gonna hear from him in the next chapter, when things really get going!

Yami R: *clears throat* ChibiBoko holds no claim over FFX (for which everyone on Spira praised Yevon for three days straight, Al Bheds included), they belong to Squaresoft. All she's got is the plot, which is actually mine.

~©©~:*glares* Which in reality makes it mine, since you're a part of me.

Yami R: The part that isn't hopelessly pathetic, of course. ^_^

______________________________________________________

****

Tag!

Chapter One -(Maybe it'd be better to call this the prologue...^^;;)

By ChibiBoko

"AAAAHHH!"

"Whoops! Sorry! Here, let me try again!"

"YAaa-HAAAaaAGGHH!!"

"_Sorry!!_"

Auron sighed as he rubbed his temples. Rikku was practicing again. 

"Tell me again why Lulu is playing teacher?" Tidus groaned as he flopped back on his bedroll by the campfire.

Auron merely stirred the coals of the fire in preparation of dinner. _Hmmm, it's Kimahri's turn to hunt. Probably fish again._ "A more interesting question would be how she hooked Wakka into helping."

The blond rolled over onto his stomach, chin in hands. "So what's on their agenda today? Fire spells again?"

"Sounds like it-"

Conversation was interrupted by the mad dash of Besaid feet as the redheaded blitz player streaked past them to dive frantically for the river, a thin stream of black smoke trailing behind him.

Tidus and Auron blinked. Two more pairs of frantic footsteps soon echoed down the path in their direction, as Rikku and Lulu burst into view.

"Where's Wakka?" Lulu asked as she tried to calm the hysterical Al Behd.

Grinning, Tidus pointed towards the nearby river. "I think he figured he needed a bath."

Rikku wailed. "I didn't _mean_ to! I don't know what went wrong!"

Auron raised an eyebrow. "So I suppose this is the end of the fire lessons for today." Rikku wilted in disappointment in herself.

Lulu nodded as she looked down at blonde girl beside her thoughtfully. "Perhaps we've been going about this in the wrong way. It might be best to start out from a different direction."

Rikku's head shot up, eyes lit. "Really? How?"

Tidus groaned quietly. _Here we go..._ He thought.

"From what I've been able to see in your attempts, the spells are too simple. You see complications where there are none."

Wakka trudged quietly -albeit drippingly- back from the river, settling down comfortably by the fire...but out of Rikku and Lulu's direct point of view. No way is this Besaid boy playing guinea pig for crazy fire-hurling Al Behd's no more. _Nuh-uh_.

"...So you'd be more successful by starting out with something complicated first, then working your way backwards."

Wakka froze in the middle of squeezing the excess water out of his boots. _Complicated...?_

Auron and Tidus seemed equally horrif- er, amazed. Where does Lulu come up with these things anyhow?

Rikku was practically dancing around the fire now. Finally some fun!

Lulu gave a little smile. "So your next lesson will be on..."

Four pairs of eyes were riveted to her; one excited, three panicked.

"...Bio."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

~00~ : Heehehehe...I'm having fun with this one. What's in store for our poor boys? Who's gonna play target- um, assistant now that Wakka's firmly retired? And where the heck is Yuna? 

Yami R: Not to mention what's taking Kimahri so long with that fish...I'm hungry.

~00;;~ : You're always hungry. Go munch on some reviews or something. Maybe you'll get a brainstorm again.

Yami R: God knows we need one. _How_ long did it take you to figure out how to end this chapter?

~^^~;; : Heh, uh....yeah. It was supposed to be a lot longer than it was, but I got mad at myself for taking so long at writing this, since it's kinda on a deadline. 


	2. Chapter Two

~00~;;: Um, yeah...this is late. ^_^;; Hehe, sorry. I've spent the last week or so plotbunny-hunting, but to no avail. *sighs*

living flame: OK OK OK OK! ^_^ (LOL) Whew! Here ya go!

Riny Beoulve: ^_^ Aw, thanx! Well, here's what you were waiting for!

Auron is my man: I'm glad you're liking this. And yeah, Auron does kick ass, doesn't he? ^___^ 

Sakura: *blushes* Thank you! I'm glad you find this story not too serious and not so funny that it's stupid. But be warned! *Points finger skyward dramatically as thunder crashes* It'll get a little more serious down the road! Mwahahahahaha-*cough_cough_hack* ....-_- dammit, bad guys make it look so easy....

And sorry to disappoint you starlight and '00', but...I'm just doing bio right now. Maybe later in the story I'll take a shot at Ultima. I dunno *shrugs*. It really depends on how the story turns out as it goes. Even I don't know right now! Sad, huh? ^_^

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tag! -Chapter Two

by ChibiBoko

"Now there's a common misconception with spells such as bio. People think that it's just a spray of poison that hits your oppponent -or something like that. That's wrong."

"It is?" Wakka scratched his head. "Huh."

Lulu nodded at him, turning back to Rikku. "The spell...alters the physiology of the target, for lack of better words."

"Alters the...body?" Tidus was dangerously losing the thread of the conversation.

"Not physically, at first. In the immune system, there's certain...parts that can be manipulated." Lulu could be seen casting about for words. "The caster must visualize taking hold of these parts and twisting them in a certain way in order to produce the effect desired."

Rikku scratched her head.

"It's hard to explain precisely something that's only seen in the mind." Lulu sighed. "Do you remember how I told you to cast fire spells?" She asked the Al Bhed girl.

"Uh huh!" The blonde nodded. "You told me to close my eyes, and picture really hard in my mind that I had a really hot ball in my hand and to think only of that ball while I chanted the spell."

"Not in those exact words, but I believe you got the point succinctly." 

The young girl cocked her head. "So that's kinda what you do for bio too?"

"In a way that's what you do for all spells, simple or complex. It's just that with the complex ones it's like picturing one ball of fire in your hand, then adding another, and then another, and so on."

"Like juggling?"

"Exactly. Like...mental juggling."

"So Rikku will have to think of more than one thing at once in order to successfully cast the spell." Auron summarized without expression. He got to his feet and started down the path to the riverbank. "I think I'll sit this one out."

Tidus yelped. "No _way _are you leaving us to deal with this alone!" He snagged the bottom of the dark man's coat and dragged him back to the spot beside him. "If I gotta, you gotta too!"

Auron scowled as he sat down muttering.

"Now close your eyes and visualize say, a machina." Lulu had kept on with her lecture through their antics, ignoring the asides from the peanut gallery as unnecessary distractions.

"Why?" Rikku blinked, sitting down cross-legged.

"It's good to picture something that you're familiar with. Because you're going to mentally take some of it apart."

"I can do that!" Rikku smiled and squinted her eyes shut. 

"Alright. Now, picture some of the parts getting weakened.."

"Like rusty and old?" Rikky quipped, eyes still closed.

"Wait!" Wakka interrupted desperately. "Where's Yuna?"

Lulu paused. "I believe she went into the nearby village for food with Kimahri."

"That's his version of 'hunting'?" Tidus pouted at Auron. "Why don't you let me do that when it's my turn to cook?"

"Kid, you've never had to worry about cooking dinner since that first time." 

Wakka winced along with Auron at that disasterious memory. "I think that was the first time I've ever seen esuna be used for that kinda thing."

"Why do you ask, Wakka?" Lulu was getting impatient with the sidetracking.

"I just wanted to know if she was gonna get back soon." The redhead chuckled awkwardly. 

"With her esuna spell." Tidus muttered. Auron nudged him into silence.

"_If we could get back to the lesson?_" Lulu glared at the three. Silence. "Good. Rikku, be sure you're comfortable."

She instructed. "This is a dangerous spell if miscast. The slightest deviation from the proper structure of the spell you're constructing can cause unexpected results in the target's body. Do you understand?"

Rikku shifted a bit. "Yes."

"Close your eyes again, and picture a machina- no, better make that a person instead." Lulu corrected. "It might be better if you visualize the same thing I do." 

Rikku nodded, concentrating.

"Do you see it? Good." 

Tidus yawned. 

"Now..."

Tidus fell flat in front of the campfire with a groan, still damp from_ his_ impromptu bath in the river. It took him forever to get all the slime off him. He scratched his head. And he still wasn't sure if he got all of it out of his hair. Lulu and Rikku moved to make room for him. Wakka sat with his back to the fire, sulking.

"You weren't kidding when you said unexpected results, Lulu." He groaned. Rikku blushed and looked down at her hands. 

It was about sun-down before Auron finally took charge and told them to call it quits. Wakka and Tidus had breathed a collective sigh of relief. Apparantly Rikku's mental aim was as good as her concentration.

In the first attempt, Lulu's mog was somehow turned into a frog that had them all chasing it around the forest for hours trying to catch it. Tidus winced as he pulled some thistles out of his shorts. The second time she turned poor Wakka's skin purple. Third time had covered Tidus in an inch-thick layer of green slime. The fourth time saw Auron's infamous jug turn invisible. That was when the ex-monk's patience had run out.

Tidus had to grin. _Serves him right for volunteering me that third time around..._ His stomach interrupted him with a discontented growl.

He grinned sheepishly as the others turned to stare at him. "Uhh, well, we didn't exactly get a chance to eat. Where're Yuna and Kimahri anyway? It shouldn't take _that_ long to walk to the village and back." 

He sulked along with the still-purple-skinned Wakka. They couldn't figure out a way to change his skin back, so he had to wait for Yuna and her esuna spell.

The leafs in the dense bushes rustled slightly. He grinned ferally as he watched his prey foolishly chat away at each other without care, unaware of his presence, his plans.

He froze as the blond boy -Tidus, he remembered him being called- abruptly cut off what he was saying and look over his way.

"There you are!" Tidus jumped up with a grin. "Have you found it yet? Or maybe we should get the help of the little woodland fairies?" He couldn't resist teasing.

"Shut up." Auron stalked toward the fire from the path to the river.

The clump of bushes sighed in quiet relief. He was still secure here, unnoticed. He didn't relax though; if anything, he became more tense at the sight of the one-eyed man. He ground his teeth angrily._ How dare he...._

His leather whip creaked from being clenched so tightly. _How _dare_ he come back!_

TBC

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

~00~: Ya know, now that I think of it, a big part of what took this chapter so long was trying to figure out just how to write Lulu's damn lecture! *sags exhausted in her chair* Lemme know if it makes sense at all, okay?

Enter the bad guy! ...Sort of..^_^;;. 

…Oh yeah, I should probably warn people of this now, but I'm thinking of having a little bit of shounen ai in here. Nothing really big, just kinda cutesy, ya know? *Shrugs* I still haven't decided if I will or not yet though. If it does show up, it probably won't be for a while.


	3. Chapter Three

A/N: I LIIIIIVE!! ^_^ *giggles* Sorry to keep everyone hanging on this fic, but life kinda distracted me from my writing for awhile. But! Now that I've got a computer of my own and soon (hopefully, cross your fingers for me) my own internet connection, I'll be able to get my fingers to the keyboard more often, since I don't have to deal with timesharing on the family computer anymore. Man, was that a pain. 

This chapter is brought to you by: 

the letter G, 

the number 4, 

and the kickstart I got from Noodles. ^_^ Thanx.

[Oh yeah, * * * means scene change here. Got it? Good! I'm done now..]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Three

Villagers bustled along the marketplace as a certain summoner and a Ronso indulged in some serious window shopping. 

Well, okay. _Yuna_ was window shopping. Kimahri just kinda leaned against the wall and grunted whenever she asked how he liked this or that trinket that she picked up and put down again just as quickly.

Kimahri sighed. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy seeing the summoner enjoy herself. Far from it; the guardian was glad to see her smile so freely after all that had been going on. But...they _were_ supposed to be getting food for tonight. He sighed as he refolded his arms, resigning himself to being late getting back to camp.

"Kimahri! Oh, look at this, wouldn't Gatta love it?" She shoved yet another trinket in front of his nose and he went cross-eyed trying to focus on it. "I can't decide what to send back to everyone in Besaid. It's so hard to choose." 

"Kimahri thinks letter from Yuna would be enough." 

Yuna sighed as she replaced the object back with it's siblings on the display table. "I know, but I just-" Her fingers trailed along the brightly-coloured tablecloth. "I just want to give them something, for all they've done for me all those years." She whispered as her eyes grew sad.

"Besaid people know Yuna loves them. No need for anything else." The blue Ronso rumbled softly, trying to console her.

Yuna smiled up at him. "Yes, I suppose your right, Kimahri." She gripped her staff more firmly as they walked away from the gaudy displays of the street merchants. "Let's go find some dinner, shall we? The others are probably worried." She looked at the position of the sun. "Oh! I didn't think I was looking for so long! Kimahri, why didn't you tell me how late it was!" She took off at a sprint for the nearest baker's store, trusting the Ronso to keep up easily.

"Kimahri's getting a headache." He growled as he loped after the panicked girl.

****

Auron stoked the fire methodically with a stick, trying to coax it to a larger blaze, when his concentration was broken by a ominous roaring.

He glared at a sheepish Tidus, who was clutching his stomach. He glanced pointedly over his glasses to a bundle of blankets which denoted a sleeping Rikku. 

"Sorry," Tidus grimaced from under blond bangs. "But when are Yuna and Kimahri gonna get back? It's been _hours_!"

"The village is rather large. They're most likely having problems finding what they need."

Wakka snorted. "Most likely Yuna found a street market or something and dragged Kimahri along to browse." He scratched at a few itchy spots on his (still) purple skin. Who would've thought the river would have swimmer's itch? He and Tidus had been grumbling about it all day after their unfortunate discovery.

****

Yuna sneezed as she straightened abruptly from taking in the delicious aroma of freshly baked bread.

****

Lulu paced around the clearing anxiously, looking worried. The sun would set in an hour or so, and there was still no sign of their missing companions. She knew that the sights in a larger than usual village would probably distract her young friend, but still...

"I'm going to go find them." She stated, skirt swirling as she stalked off down the path to the village, foliage rustling as she brushed by it.

Tidus looked after her, then looked at Auron. He thought for a split second. "Wait up! I'll come too!" He started to rise from his spot on the ground

Auron sighed as he brought the stick sharply across the back of Tidus' head.

"Yeowch!" The blond clutched at his head in pain as he whirled on his fellow guardian. "What's the big idea? I was just-"

"Going to try to spy on our summoner?" Auron quirked an eyebrow at him. "Give her some space, surely you can appreciate that she needs it."

Tidus flopped sulkily back down onto the dirt before the fire.

"Besides," He wouldn't look over at the older man, he wouldn't. "Don't you think you should get cleaned up before they get back?"

He spun around. "What are you talking about? I just _finished_ getting all that goop off me! Tell me where I need to-"

Wordlessly, the red-coated man held up the stick. Slowly sliding down from the end was a blob of green slime.

"GAH!!" Tidus grabbed at his hair as he dashed frantically for the water again.

Rikku was woken up by Auron's laughing.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Yes, this one is short. Unfortunately, as I've discovered, it's REALLY hard to suddenly write for a fic after a long period of non-writing. Hmmm....maybe I should try doing one-shots when that happens? Then I should be able to get back into writing for my stories easier. I think I'll try it....

*Shakes out of her thoughts*

Anyways, review and let me know what you think of this chapter. Personally, I had a bit of trouble coming up with a way to start it, so if the beginning seems a little forced, let me know! I always appreciate constructive comments on my stuff. When I know what I need to improve it really helps me to work to make it better.


End file.
